Violet Okaya’s Story

Violet Okaya joined the Inua Village Sacco in November 2019. They have seven children and she is the breadwinner. The husband is a Community Health Volunteer at a nearby Dispensary and he gets a very small stipend from that. She used to save 50 shillings from selling vegetables and when she didn’t have any money, she would do her savings in kind by bringing eggs, vegetables or even firewood for the other members to buy then save the money.

She was very committed and consistent in doing her saving. She applied for the loan after twelve weeks of saving one thousand five hundred as per the Sacco’s regulations. Her loan request was approved and she was given four thousand five hundred (4500) as the first loan which she decided to open a business.

She always wanted to start something that would help her cater for her family’s needs instead of relying on farming alone. She organized a kiosk where she can put up her grocery business. She inquired on where to get her products and the location of her business before starting with Sacco’s help and training. She started with selling fish, tomatoes and a few vegetables. Before long she had ventured into selling sim sim, sweet potatoes and onions.

It did not take her long for her to pay the loan and within seventeen weeks she had already cleared the loan. She continues to save in Sacco and cater for her family with her business. Every morning she goes to buy products for her business, do the house chores and take care of the small kids until 2:00pm after which she goes to her place of business until seven in the evening. She is very happy and grateful for Sacco as she has learnt a lot and she can confidently feed her family.

We continue to follow up and empower our members like Violet, to ensure they know that they can contribute a lot to their family and also the community.